Saurav Ganguly's Will, Sachin Tendulkar's Calm and Simon Taufel's Confession

The second cricket test match between India and England is not yet complete. The test, however, has seen some great things. Sports, I feel, always evokes some true emotions.

Saurav Ganguly was made to feel unwanted a year back. Every newspaper had written him off. The greats of the game suggested him to retire. Friends too, thinking, its not just for a great to be treated like that. In an interview he said, its easy to just leave. Thats the easiest path. Anyone can do that. So he decided to challenge himself, to see if he can force a comeback. Of all odds, he came back. In this test match he played a great innings. He was nearing his 100, but was given out wrongly. His will though, will bring him another one soon. All his career, he was known for one thing, his dogged will. That is what he will be remembered later.

Sachin Tendulkar too was nearing a century but was a victim of another poor decision by Simon Taufel. When he was given out, he was stunned and shocked. But he didnt make noises, he didnt make faces towards the umpire. We get a bad deal, say a road jam, and would make a big fuss about it. He just turned back and went. It is these small things, that give the big insights inside the soul of big champions.

Lastly, umpire Simon Taufel, had a bad day. The best umpire in the game today gave two wrong decisions. We all have our bad days. His greatness was his confession. Its not easy to say "I made a mistake". He could have said something else, or could have refused to speak. But he chose to accept his mistake. And on top of that, he felt bad for the spectators and fans, for it was them who felt the most let down. And Sachin and Saurav? They were fine. One eating an ice-cream and the other cracking jokes with his team-mates.

Professor Courageous

Virginia Tech witnessed USA's worst massacre.

Professor Liviu Librescu faced the bullets and asked the students to flee and jump out of the window. Around 8-9 lives saved. A split second decision to save lives and a split second decision to give away his own life. What courage and what selflessness!!

Immortality surely comes from the deeds. A remarkable life as it is, and a remarkable death. He has definitely made his family, friends and students extremely proud. And he will continue to inspire all those who will come to know of him.

What more can I say?

Few Good Men

Three great champions Andre Agassi, Michael Schumacher and Shane Warne have retired in the year 2006. While I have watched most of the grand-slam semis and finals and most of India-Australia cricket battles, I have not watched F1 at all. However, thanks to my roomie's enthusiasm, I was fortunate to watch Schumi's last race. Lagging behind by one lap to ending the race at 4th position was quite an achievement in a game where a difference of one second is considered pretty big.

Andre Agassi lost in the 3rd round of US Open 2006 and that was his last match. The time when I started to understand and enjoy watching tennis, Stefen Edberg, Ivan Lendl, Boris Becker and Navaratilova were ageing and about to retire. Becker was the favorite owing to his flamboyance. They slowly made way for Agassi, Sampras, Ivanisevic and Graf. I liked Sampras because on his day he was unbeatable and more often than not, it used to be his day. I liked Goran Ivanisevic for what else but his serve. 15-love, 30-love, 40-love, Game Ivanisevic. What else could you say after that? I liked Graf for her finesse. I liked the way she carried herself. I liked Agassi for his unpredictability and his return of serve. You could never say that Agassi has lost the match until the match got completed. How many times he came back to win the match from a position of 2 sets down. I liked the fight between Agassi and Sampras. Their matches were like joy and sorrow together. A point won at the same time was a point lost.

Another stalwart of a different game Shane Warne has retired after the 2006 Ashes. His life, both on and off the field, was full of one thing, turns. He made the art of bowling interesting to watch. He used to expect a wicket every ball. His big turns, his wickets, the joy on his face and the confused look of the batsmen made it all the more interesting. Teams were expected to score more in the overs not bowled by him. It was almost taken for granted that he will take wickets and if not that, he wont concede too many runs.

Now that Agassi and Warne have retired, I feel sad. I grew up watching them play. They were a part of my life for so many years. And now that they are gone, I feel a void, I feel that a part of my childhood and teenage years has died.

One day Sachin will retire too. That surely wont be a happy day of my life.